Paul McInnis Estate Auction - Newington, NH, December 10, 2005

Auction from Hemmings Motor News

We go to auctions to learn about the market for collector cars, to try to penetrate the screen of half-truths and outright deception that sometimes surrounds cars in this red-hot marketplace, and maybe kick a few tires ourselves. But we don't expect to come face-to-face with a grave reminder of life's fleeting joys.

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We wondered about this collection; included with the dozen or so muscle cars were late model German luxury cars, heavy trucks, recent Harley-Davidson motorcycles and motorboats, all with almost no use. The story, when we learned it, should serve as a cautionary tale to tell us all. Heir to Bay State Minerals, the owner of these vehicles had acquired them all within the ten-year period before his death of a heart attack at the age of 45. They sat in a warehouse on the New Hampshire coast for years, only ever pushed from place to place.
A shoulder-to-shoulder throng jammed the heated warehouse, and a number of online bidders competed as well. We started to hope the local fire marshal wouldn't decide he was in the market for an El Camino, and then, pressed up against a rare 1995 hydroForce jet boat, we started to hope he would. Prices do not include a 10 percent buyer's premium (13 percent online).

This article originally appeared in the March, 2006 issue of Hemmings Motor News.